Genre

I thought the comparison between language studies and genre studies was very interesting. It is true that the audience's response to any given film or set of films helps to shape and define film categories and refine the rules of cinematic genres in general, the way that a language is shaped by the responses of the people who speak it. It is also true that as with language, communication via film relies on shared knowledge, and it is this shared film knowledge that enables us to group films together and create genres. Yet unlike the rules of language, the rules of cinema can change rapidly, meaning that genres can evolve and new genres can develop as new films and groups of films emerge and become popular.

The three levels of inquiry (characteristics shared by all genre films, characteristics shared by the films within a given genre and characteristics that set one genre film apart) seemed like a useful way of looking at things. I also thought the description of genre as defined by "a network of characters, actions, values and attitudes" was a good one, since location, plot and subject matter are certainly too narrow categories that don't always apply. Additionally I liked the concept of determinate space (where the plot action starts with some kind of entrance and ends with some kind of exit) vs. indeterminate space (where the conflict revolves around the characters trying to find their place in the existing community).

Although I certainly felt as though I understood genre before reading this article, the author brought up many new ways of looking at and understanding it that I would never have thought of.